The King has been on my mind recently, with his birthday on January 8, and of course the death of his daughter. Of course the next thing my brain goes to is golf. I wonder if Elvis played golf? I bet he would have made a good golfer!
Well, it turns out that he did play, and that he was apparently quite good. While I couldn’t find much information, here is an interesting article that mentions him. Indy man, 97, and his golf dates with Elvis Presley (indystar.com)
But back to golf. What made me think that Elvis would be good at golf? It’s his incredible hip and torso control – some great examples here: Elvis Presley’s Dance Moves – YouTube. Having this control allows the golfer to take full advantage of the X-factor (the separation of hips and torso at the top of the backswing), and to get the most out of the biggest power generators in the swing, the legs and glutes.
If you search Youtube, you can find lots of videos on the X-factor, and on drills to improve it. But drills get boring and only go so far. May I suggest that you add a little “cross training”? Clear some living room space, crank up the stereo (or Sonos speaker) and boogie down to some Elvis tunes! Try to copy his moves and really get your hips moving. If you like bringing music to the course, you might even consider slipping a couple Elvis songs into your playlist to remind yourself to use your hips. Don’t force it, just let the music carry you and have some fun!
Here’s Gary Player (they were friends) doing an impression of Elvis playing golf: Gary Player Impersonating Elvis Presley Playing Golf. – YouTube
Written by Dr. Claudia